


Pieces on a Board

by Lavender_Showers



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon May Joss This, Chess Metaphors, Ice Skating, JJ POV, M/M, Probably Incorrect/Inaccurate Info about Ice Skating and Ice Skating-related activities, more like Post-Episode 11, post-episode 9
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 05:48:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8832808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavender_Showers/pseuds/Lavender_Showers
Summary: excerpt:

  In the Rostelecom Cup, JJ knew that Yuuri Katsuki was not a king after watching his free skate. Now, in the Grand Prix Finals, JJ knew that his observation about Yuuri wasn’t wrong.
  Yuuri wasn’t a king.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [head over heels](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8654023) by [sapphire_eyes27](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphire_eyes27/pseuds/sapphire_eyes27). 



> Hello again! This is my second fic; I'm scared. On to author's notes: Viktor is spelled as such because that's more common in Russia. Yuuri is Katsuki and Yuri is Plisetsky. I don't own Yuri!!! on Ice. This was inspired by one of the tags from the inspiration work. ONE. TAG. Yuri on Ice is taking my life and I'm offering it on a silver plate. The Viktuuri relationship is only mentioned; it's not the focus of this fic.

In the Rostelecom Cup, JJ knew that Yuuri Katsuki was not a king after watching his free skate. Without his coach, Viktor Nikiforov, Yuuri performed badly. Granted, it wasn’t as bad as his performance in the Grand Prix Finals a year ago, but it was still bad. He over-rotated, had fewer rotations, or he touched down after some of the jumps.

Now, in the Grand Prix Finals, JJ knew that his observation about Yuuri wasn’t wrong.

He had already performed, was the first one to perform for the first group, and now he was watching Yuuri’s short programme. Because of that, JJ had time and thus, he scouted his competition. Not because he felt that they were superior to him – he was the King; no one was better than him – but because he wanted to see how they would perform. And he wanted to see how he could best disturb them. It was fun riling up the little Russian kitten in Skate Canada and Rostelecom Cup. If he had it his way, he would find the little kitten to annoy him again.

Because JJ scouted his competition, he knew their programs. He knew that Yuuri’s theme for this year was love and that his short programme focused on Eros, the sexual love. And as he continued to watch Yuuri skate, he knew he wasn’t wrong.

Yuuri _wasn’t_ a king.

He was a _queen_.

He knew this because of his family, more specifically because of his little sister. See, JJ’s whole family – his mother, father, younger brother and younger sister – everyone in the family was a figure skater. At one point or another, he’s seen them train. His parents were competing in pair skating and his little siblings were both competing in the Junior division.

However, training wasn’t just on the ice. Usually figure skaters would have some type of off-ice training: ballet, dance, and gymnastics were a few examples of those. His parents regularly trained in dance – ballroom dancing to be more exact – as that type of training that benefitted them the most. His younger brother took gymnastic lessons at least once a week. JJ himself didn’t exactly have one set preference for his off-ice training: sometimes he accompanied his parents and copied their exercises; other times he was with his brother balancing and performing jumps on a beam. It was a mix of styles as befitted the _JJ style_.

JJ’s sister was no different. She too trained off the ice. She studied ballet. It wasn’t rare that JJ accompanied her to her lessons, but it was rare that he stayed with her during them. Ballet just wasn’t part of the _JJ style_. During the times that he did stay with her, he mostly watched the class, noting the differences between the movements of a ballerina and a danseur. Ballet movements were still softer than any other dance, but that didn’t mean that gender roles were non-existent. In fact, gender roles were rather rigid in ballet.

Ballerinas took center stage; their dainty and refined forms show a story through their light movements. Danseurs had their moments to shine, of course, but they mostly supported the ballerinas. Danseurs had more rigid movements than a ballerina did.

In the figure skating world, he had seen two skaters apply ballet in their movements this season. 

One of the skaters was Yuri Plisetsky. As someone who’s been watching ballet for a number of years, JJ knew that Yuri Plisetsky’s movements were those of a ballerina’s. His inexperience also shows in his movements. However, it wasn’t as strange as it could have been. His performance shows that he has little experience in ballet so he may not even know that his movements were that of a girl’s. And even if he did, his age allowed for some freedom in the gender roles. After all, even Viktor Nikiforov played the androgyny card when he was younger.

The other one was Yuuri Katsuki. Yuuri’s performance didn’t show the same inexperience that Yuri did; in fact his ballet movements were less conscious and more natural. And due to his age, Yuuri Katsuki couldn’t play the part of one unknowing of his actions. He knew that he didn’t dance like a danseur. He knew that he danced like a ballerina.

JJ saw it in the way the Yuuri moved his hands, his arms, his torso. It was written in the way his feet glided, his legs bent, and his hips twisted. They were subtle hints but they were present. He performed like he knew no one else could perform like he did. And he wasn’t wrong. The Russian kitten may have had training but he was not the prima ballerina of this season.

Yuuri Katsuki was.

And JJ realized that their match-up was incorrect. The King and the Queen were two different positions and the King will always be higher than the Queen. 

Thus, if Yuuri Katsuki was the Queen, then there was only one candidate for his King.

Viktor Nikiforov.

If Yuuri was the Queen, then all of his actions on the ice were a gift for Viktor. Eros was his dance of seduction; Yuuri on Ice was his homage. Both of them were for his King.

JJ really shouldn’t be surprised. He was there during the… _event_ that was post-Grand Prix Finals banquet. He was there when Yuuri danced Eros in the Rostelecom Cup. He was there when their engagement was announced. He should have known, even with the small amount of time he spent in Yuuri’s proximity, how much he adored Viktor Nikiforov. After all, he practically grinded his hips on the guy during the banquet. He had looked directly at Viktor when he blew that kiss in the Rostelecom Cup. He had all but shouted that he loved Viktor from the top of the Sagrada Familia. He should have known.

But somehow he was surprised anyway.

This didn’t mean that Yuuri was going to win of course. JJ was the King and he was still the best.

But looking at Yuuri skating his short programme, he was reminded of a conversation that he had with his younger siblings.

_“Did you know, JJ, that people think that the Queen is the most powerful piece on the board? I don’t really think so. For the Queen, or any other piece really, to do anything, then the King must be alive. That means that the King is the most powerful because without him, there is no game.” His brother was the one to interrupt the silence. There had been a phase in which he was interested in chess and he had brought up the topic after reading a book about it._

_“But, even if that’s true, there is no denying that the Queen is the most versatile piece. Sure, it can’t copy the moves of a knight but it has all the other piece’s moves: a pawn, a bishop, a rook, and the King. If power meant versatility, then none of the other pieces could ever beat the Queen. It could even rule the kingdom if they were in a real one! Not that it would do any good of course. The Queen is wholly devoted to her King. What do you think, JJ?” His sister was almost the same age as his younger brother and was the one who **had** to oppose him. But she would be the first one to protect him when he needed it._

_“What do I think? Well…I think both of you are wrong! I think that the most powerful piece on the board is the pawn. After all, given the right circumstances, it can usurp the King! But the King is powerful, so that only happens every once in a while.”_

At the time, his answer was mostly teasing. He wasn't really thinking about chess or the power that each position held. Now, looking at Yuuri, he has to agree with his sister: the Queen was the most versatile piece in the board.

But it didn’t mean that Yuuri Katsuki was going to win.

After all, JJ was the King, and no one was going to beat him.

**Author's Note:**

> The Information about JJ's family is canon and was obtained here: http://yurionice.wikia.com/wiki/Jean_Jacques_Leroy. I'm not an athlete at all, so if there was any inaccuracies and you'd like for me to fix it, then please contact me and I'll get to it as soon as I can. Thank you for reading!


End file.
